From Guy Fawkes’ lantern to a bucket used in the Great Fire of London and a horse gas mask from the First World War, they are items that bring history to life.

Now they are being put to use in a project to liven up ‘dry’ text books used by history students in schools.

A hundred objects have been chosen from museums around the country dating from 700,000 years ago to the modern day.

Scroll down for video

Bringing history to life: School pupils will learn history through 100 objects including the 7th Century Sutton Hoo helmet, kept at London's British Museum (left), and the 700,000-year-old Happisburgh flint hand axe in Norfolk

War horse: The objects include an example of the gas masks worn by horses during the First World War

Other artefacts from British history include the Sutton Hoo helmet, a medieval wine jug and a Charles I commemorative ring.

World history will be represented too in objects such as a Mesopotamian clay tablet, an early Islamic encyclopaedia and a Russian revolutionary plate.

Artefacts: Guy Fawkes' lantern is on the list (left), as is an Enigma coding machine at Bletchley Park (right)

History: The 4,500-year-old Standard of Ur, an elaborate artwork, was found in a tomb in what is now Iraq

Launching the scheme yesterday, schools minister Nick Gibb it had been inspired by Victorian teaching methods which enlivened ‘quite dry’ history books.

He said: ‘I often get accused of wanting to take us back to the Victorian era, which is just absolutely not true, but the Victorians did have that approach of teaching using an object.

‘That’s where the phrase “object lesson” comes from. They’d base whole lessons on, for example, a stuffed parrot and the whole lesson would revolve around that.’

The format is similar to one use in the recent BBC documentary History of the World in 100 Objects, which has had 35 million downloads.

Five to seven-year-olds will view artefacts including Florence Nightingale’s writing box and Queen Victoria’s Jubilee badge.

Key stage two pupils, aged seven to 11, will look into objects like an Egyptian mummy and an Iron Age boat.

Trinkets: The objects include a badge to mark Queen Victoria's jubilee (left) and a Norman ivory game counter

Steaming its way into history: Built in 1825, there is Stephenson's first passenger locomotive Locomotion No 1

Secondary school pupils, up to the age of 14, will discover items such as William III’s playing cards and a Wedgwood tea set.

Some 20 items are already available online and the remainder will be uploaded before the end of the year.

The oldest is the 700,000-year-old Happisburgh hand axe found in Norfolk. The most recent is a protest poster from the Middle East.

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum which worked on the scheme with the Department for Education, said: ‘This project will enable every primary and secondary school child in the country to access museum objects from the magnificent to the mundane but all of which can teach us about our global history. This is an extremely exciting project.’

Historian and broadcaster Dan Snow hailed the ‘amazing resources for young people’.

He said: ‘The wealth of sources, images and links will enliven any lesson and foster a deeper understanding and love of the past in anyone who comes into contact with them.’

THE FULL LIST OF 100 OBJECTS... AND WHERE YOU CAN GO TO FIND THEM

1 Fire bucket from the Great Fire of London – Museum of London (right)

Spectacular: The Roman remains in the city of Bath. Schools minister said: 'I often get accused of wanting to take us back to the Victorian era, which is just absolutely not true, but the Victorians did have that approach'